Individuals who are confined to a wheelchair and who also lack bladder and bowel control are often prevented from participating in many fundamental daily activities, e.g., shopping, visiting friends, attending church, and keeping appointments, as the fear of accidental bowel or bladder movements causing humiliation and embarrassment is overwhelming. Further compounding the problem is that the transfer of an individual from a wheelchair to a public commode or a commode that lacks proper lift mechanisms is difficult for the untrained care-giver. The transfer process is also physically detrimental to the individual being transferred as tissue breakdown from repeated transfers by lifting with a sling or other mechanism may occur. Individuals who lack bladder and bowel control and who are also confined to a wheelchair suffer from the fact that they are only able to venture from home for very short amounts of time. Further, such individuals require near constant assistance.
Powered wheelchairs provide a limited amount of workspace in the powered wheelchair that may be dedicated to a commode. The presence of a motor for powering the wheelchair as well as support structures and other lifting mechanisms severely limit the space in the construction of the powered wheelchair that may be dedicated to a commode.
Also, the operation of a commode function of a wheelchair needs to be easy to actuate for an operator with limited mobility and dexterity. Previous attempts to incorporate a commode into a wheelchair have required significant manual strength and dexterity to operate the commode function of the wheelchair.
Other problems with previous attempts to incorporate a commode into a wheelchair include the proper containment and disposal of waste. In some previous attempts to incorporate a commode into a wheelchair, waste was not adequately contained and/or separated from the general environment surrounding the operator. Further, disposal of the waste should be convenient and sanitary.
Other problems with respect to previous attempts to incorporate a commode function into a wheelchair include moving mechanisms and structures that can prove hazardous to a user resting on the moving mechanisms and structures. Wheelchairs with a commode function having doors or shutters that close and/or shut require careful and delicate construction to avoid injury to the operator.